Venezuela goes for Ban on GM Seeds

The new legislation would protect small and medium producers, favour the use of seeds for the environment and human health, and the creation of an institution working on the topic.

Venezuela is going forward in the defintive elaboration and approval for a law guaranteeing security and sovereignty against the threat of transgenic seeds, said Socialist deputy Alfredo Urena.

Urena said in an interview to Venezolana de Television how important this is to preserve the biological diversity of the nation and food sovereignty, since the transgenic seed market is under the monopoly of a few transationals, such as renowned enterprise MONSANTO.

The new legislation would protect small and medium producers, favour the use of seeds for the environment and human health, and the creation of an institution working on the topic, he said.

Urena said the law project – included last year in the parliamentary agenda – should be in general discussion next month, and includes the foundation of a National Seed Institute that legalizes and certifies agricultural production in the country.

He said legal regulations against transgenic seeds and technological packages are needed and that the project will be later taken to debate before the social movements of Venezuela, farmers, and even producers supporting the use of transgenic seeds.

Urena, however, said that the great development of agricultural production by the use of transgenic seeds in member countries of the South Common Market (MERCOSUR) such as Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, is now a reality and states an alternative.

Professor Olga Domenech, coordinator of the National Plan of the Agro Ecology Formation Program of the Bolivarian University of Venezuela, said that the use of transgenics not only damages the environment, but also contaminates varieties of local cultivations and human beings.

The specialist – who collaborates in the formation of the law – said that professionals for a transition in agro-ecology are being trained.

The law should include the vision of farmers, producers, and customers, said Domenech finally.